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The possibility of Comcast taking over ITV has prompted apprehensions about the consequences on British public service broadcasting, a situation that the broadcaster's new chief executive, joining from a senior post at Sky, will be keenly aware of.

Sky’s commercial director, Priya Dogra, will now be looked to to take a leading role to block her ex-company's acquisition bid to protect Channel 4.

The envisaged merger of Sky and ITV’s terrestrial and streaming assets would leave Channel 4 a relative commercial minnow in the realm of TV and digital ad sales, reviving debate of the need to revisit some form of tie-up with the BBC for future viability.

Primary Concern: The Future of News

However, it is the potential ramifications on the future of news output that are causing the most immediate alarm for many within the television industry.

The surprise news last month that Comcast, which owns assets including Universal Studios and bought Rupert Murdoch’s Sky for £30bn in 2018, makes commercial sense. Traditional broadcasters are facing a deep-seated viability crisis as audiences and revenues continue to rapidly migrate to global digital players such as Meta, Google, Amazon, and Netflix.

“Comcast’s bid for ITV is causing nervousness among media watchers, with especial focus for news provision.”

However, the potential £1.6bn takeover of ITV’s television business and streaming service, which would end 70 years of self-rule, is riddled with regulatory, political, and competition issues.

Overnight, Comcast would control Sky News and ITV News—including its far-reaching regional news operation—and become the largest shareholder in ITN, which produces news for ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.

While Comcast’s 40% stake in ITN would not be a controlling stake—other shareholders include the owner of the Daily Mail, Thomson Reuters, and Informa—it would still be heavily involved in the news output of most of the main commercial broadcasters.

“If a deal goes through, the fate of ITN is an interesting one that will become a priority politically,” comments one senior TV executive. “Effectively, they will be involved in the news output of all the biggest non-BBC channels.”

Investment Promises and Regulatory Scrutiny

Comcast pledged to keep funding Sky News for a decade, upping its funding annually in line with inflation, as part of its 2018 takeover of Sky. As that assurance draws closer to concluding, concerns have been raised about whether the US company will continue to fully fund Sky News, which has an annual budget of £100m but is thought to operate at a deficit of as much as £80m.

It is understood that any deal to buy ITV would include assurances not to seek permission from media regulator Ofcom to change the conditions of its public service broadcast licence, which includes obligations to national and regional news.

“There are certainly questions about diversity of voice,” says Stewart Puvis, a former ITN chief executive. “Theoretically, Comcast could, say, merge Sky and ITV News and use its position as a 40% shareholder in ITN to assert control... I would hope Comcast appreciate ways of solving these problems.”

An Endangered Model

British TV executives have previously warned of the risk posed to the UK’s system of public service broadcasters (PSBs) by large parts of the industry being acquired by US corporations.

Recently, Ofcom published a report warning that public service television, such as news provision and UK-focused content, risks becoming an “at-risk model” as viewers migrate to US online platforms and streamers.

The watchdog also revealed data showing that YouTube had surpassed ITV to become the UK’s second most-watched media service, behind only the BBC, with it and Netflix now the two most popular first TV destinations among young people.

The Need for Unity

There are those who believe that a Sky takeover of ITV, against the backdrop of the viewer shift to mostly US digital companies, signals the need for closer collaboration between the UK’s biggest broadcasters.

“The UK wants and needs its own part of mass media which isn’t US controlled,” says a second broadcasting executive. “It’s a national strategic imperative. I think the government needs to work out how the boards of the PSBs have a new part to their remits that obligates them to collaborate.”

Given that advertisers follow eyeballs, a combination of Sky and ITV could create a British TV and streaming giant, with the two companies’ sales houses controlling a dominant share of total ad spend on traditional TV and broadcasters’ streaming services.

Regulatory Hurdles

Any deal will trigger an investigation by the UK competition watchdog. Sky is hoping the regulator will widen the scope of the ad market to include the impact of giants like YouTube and Facebook.

“I think it will get approved,” says Alex DeGroote, a media analyst. “Comcast will do everything it can to say it will maintain the PSB status quo... But you don’t buy to ultimately keep everything the same. ITV plus Sky would give them a hugely dominant position in the TV ad market.”

Funding Problems of Channel 4 and the BBC

Channel 4, which relies on advertising for the vast majority of its income, now faces a eroded BBC as a potential partner and a formidable commercial threat from a combined Sky-ITV.

“We may at some point end up in that situation because of the deep cumulative cuts to the BBC’s funding and because Channel 4, too, has a inherent financial issue,” says Patrick Barwise, an emeritus professor at London Business School. “Channel 4 has repeatedly beaten the predictions, but that is just delaying the inevitable. It’s now beginning to reach its limits.”

The ongoing saga emphasises a wider conundrum for British media: how to safeguard a independent voice and a robust public service ecosystem in an ever more globalised and digitally dominated landscape.